Salon.com > Lebanon

New Lebanese Cabinet gives Hezbollah more power

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:46:43 +0000

Five months after Hezbollah and its allies brought down the Lebanese government, the prime minister formed a new Cabinet on Monday that gives the Iranian-backed militant group far more power.

Hezbollah has seen a steady rise over the past few decades from a resistance group fighting Israel to Lebanon's most powerful military and political force.

Opponents of Hezbollah -- which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization -- say having an Iranian proxy at the helm of Lebanon's government will lead to international isolation.

Hezbollah forced the collapse of Lebanon's pro-Western government in January over fears it would be indicted by a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri's son, who was prime minister at the time, was forced from office when he refused to withdraw support for the investigation.

Hezbollah's favored candidate, Najib Mikati, was named the new prime minister. But Mikati has struggled to form a Cabinet, insisting that he would not be beholden to the militant group's demands.

On Monday, Mikati announced a Cabinet that gives Hezbollah and its allies 16 of the 30 seats. In the previous government, they had 10 seats.

Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” banned in Lebanon

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:08:00 +0000

Lady Gaga might have been "born this way," but her music isn't going to be accepted in at least one Middle Eastern country. According to The Christian Post, Gaga's second studio album has been banned in Lebanon for being "offensive to Christianity."

While her song "Judas" was definitely trying to rattle some cages with its "Like a Virgin"-style iconography, America largely ignored the attempt at blasphemy. But according to reports, thousands of copies of "Born This Way" were stopped by Lebanese officials and impounded on the grounds of "bad taste." "Judas" has already been banned from Lebanese radio.

Palestinians call mourning period for border dead

Mon, 16 May 2011 12:48:25 +0000

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday declared three days of mourning for 15 people killed in mass marches toward multiple Israeli borders that marked a stunning new tactic in the struggle for Palestinian statehood.

Sunday's marches, on the date Palestinians mourn their uprooting as a result of Israel's 1948 creation, illustrated Arab dissatisfaction with the deadlocked efforts to establish a Palestinian state. The unprecedented tactic also reflected an Arab world emboldened by the anti-government protests sweeping the Middle East this year.

Abbas, who is pursuing alternative routes to statehood after a breakdown in peace talks with Israel, quickly embraced those who tried to breach Israel's borders from the West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

"Their blood will not be spilled in vain, because their blood was spilled for the freedom and rights of our people," he said.

Flags at public buildings in the West Bank were lowered to half-staff.

Some in Israel suspected an Iranian hand in the attempted border breaches, with the help of Tehran's allies in the region: Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Palestinian officials said the marches were a purely Palestinian initiative, organized on Facebook by activists, many living in exile.

Lebanon’s government falls as Hezbollah pulls out

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:11:00 +0000

Lebanon's year-old unity government collapsed Wednesday after Hezbollah ministers and their allies resigned over tensions stemming from a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The walkout ushers in the country's worst political crisis since 2008 in one of the most volatile corners of the Middle East.

The tribunal is widely expected to name members of Hezbollah in upcoming indictments, which many fear could re-ignite sectarian tensions that have plagued the tiny country for decades.

"This cabinet has become a burden on the Lebanese, unable to do its work," Energy Minister Jibran Bassil said at a news conference announcing the resignations, flanked by the other ministers who are stepping down. "We are giving a chance for another government to take over."

Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, has denounced the tribunal as an "Israeli project" and urged Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri -- the son of the slain politician -- to reject any findings by the court even before it announced any indictments.

But the prime minister has refused to break cooperation with the tribunal.

U.S. lawmaker lifts hold on Lebanon military aid

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 22:28:00 +0000

A member of Congress has lifted her hold on $100 million in U.S. military aid to Lebanon's army, clearing a major hurdle to resuming the assistance.

A spokesman for Rep. Nita Lowey says the New York Democrat decided to free up the money after the Obama administration made its case that the aid bolsters America's national security and would not be hijacked by Hezbollah militants to threaten Israel.

Lowey placed a hold on the Lebanon army aid in August after an incident in which Lebanese soldiers near the Israeli border opened fire on Israeli troops. A California Democrat, Rep. Howard Berman, has also placed a hold on the aid but was expected to lift it as well.

Israel’s “Lebanon generation” — in the movies

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 01:01:00 +0000

Samuel Maoz was a tank gunner in the Israeli army during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, a conflict with murky goals and outcomes that resulted in a large civilian death toll and remains highly controversial even today. None of that political or historical context is visible in Maoz's extraordinary war film, "Lebanon," but that's precisely the source of its power.

Told entirely from the claustrophobic perspective of a tank crew -- unsure of where they are, who their allies are and whether they are firing on belligerents or innocent civilians -- "Lebanon" is a terrifying, absorbing 93 minutes spent in hell. It captures the intensity of warfare in a visceral fashion that recalls Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" and Oliver Stone's "Platoon." Indeed, the resemblance to Vietnam movies is not pure coincidence, since Maoz describes the Lebanon war as a social trauma that affected Israel much the way Vietnam affected the United States. Except that Lebanon is just north of Israel, not thousands of miles away. It's as if Vietnam were where Ontario is, and the Viet Cong had been sporadically shelling Detroit.